A Horse By Any Other Name

Last spring I decided to buy a horse. Odd for me, since for most of my life I had little interaction with horses. The first time I rode as an adult I fell off twice! However, a few years ago a good friend bought a horse and I started hanging out at the barn with her. I took sporadic lessons until about 18 months ago when I started riding regularly. 

Last year at this time, I had finally reached the point in my ridding where I could canter without thinking, I'm going die. I promptly went out and bought a saddle--because every aspiring rider buys a saddle for the future. A month later, I found a horse to lease and, little did I know, my future was sealed. Four months later, I made the decision to go into horse ownership. It was with this fragment of experience that I ventured into the equestrian world--leaning heavily on the good opinion of my trainer. 

After a six month search, looking at a variety of breeds and crosses, multiple road trips that took us across the tri-state area and into Illinois, I found a gem of a horse. A 10 year old Lusitano gelding named Risonho--he became my dancing partner in the beginning of October, 2015. And it's here the journey begins:

My goal through these posts is to chronicle our partnership, primarily for my own reference, but perhaps it will also provide future insight to others as I educate my understanding of horse training and dressage.